Improvement in manufacture of boots and shoes



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Manufacture-of Boots and Shoes. No.l53,666. PatntedAqg.4,1874.

THE SRPHIE CO. PHOTU'LITHJ Il #l PARK PLACEFLY,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE` ALVIN GIOLBURN, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 153,666, dated August 4, 1874; application filed May 9,1874.

To all whom it may concern A Be it known that I, ALVIN GOLBURN, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in the Manufacture of-Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification:

The purpose of this invention is to provide a material adapted to be used for making an insole, counter, or other analogous part of a boot or shoe, which shall possess the characteristics of lightness, dryness, Warmth, and of being impervious to moisture, and which, at the same `time,lmay be produced at small cost; an d the invention consists in producing such articles from a material composed of sponge, cut or ground to a tine state, and either alone or with other substances, compressed into a sheet which converts it into a tenacious and semi-hard and elastic body, the material thus produced being rendered impervious to moisture by impregnating it with any Well-known water-proof substance, and being covered upon one or both sides by a layer of cloth, Wood-veneer', or other fibrous or textile material, which shall protect the sponge-body against danger of cracking or fraying at the edges and retain it iiitact-inits original state, While being handled or transported, or vvorn in a boot.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure l, a perspective view, and in Fig. 2, a section of an insole, embodying my invention.

In these drawings, A represents -Jthe body of the sole as cut from a sheet of material, composed of sponge finely cut or ground, and impregnated with oil, parafne, or other proper repellent, Which shall` render it impervious to moisture Without impairing its elastic properties. Upon one or both sides of this sole I affix a layer of cloth, a or b, or other suitable material, for purposes hereinbefore stated.

Fig. 3, of the drawings, represents a counter, made in accordance With my invention, A being the compressed and'Water-proof spongebody, and a the layer of aiiixed cloth.

It may be found, in practice, desirable to incorporate With the sponge some other substance than that herein named, and I do not desire to conine myself to the use of sponge entirely, whereof to produce the requisite body, nor do I confine myself to cloth as a protection or means of strengthening this body, as both these. features may be varied to a considerable extent Without departing from the main feature of my invention, which I consider to be the material herein described,

consisting of a body composed, Wholly or in the main, of nely-divided sponge, rendered impervious to moisture and compressed into a firm body, and backed or strengthened by a layer or layers of cloth, Wood, or other material, substantially as and for purposes stated.

An insole, counter, or other portion of a boot or shoe, composed of the above production, is elastic, light, warm, Water-proof, and durable, and possesses many great advantages over other materials heretofore used for the purpose, in addition to Which it may be manufactured at small cost.

I claim- The material herein described, for use in the manufacture of boots and shoes, consisting of a body composed, Wholly or in the main, of iinely-divided, compressed, and waterproofed sponge, backed or re-enforced, on vone or both sides,-by a layer or layers of cloth, Wood, or other material, as and for the purposes set forth.

Witnesses: ALVIN COLBURN.

F. CURTIS, W. E. BOAEDMAN. 

